Sincerely Yours, the NJBC
by Cat488
Summary: The four had grown up together, had made each other the people they are today. And though the future was sure to hold obstacles and heartbreak, they would always have each other. A character study. Pre-Series, as in before Dan or anything in 'canon'. Warning: based on tv show characters, not books, and I have not watched much of the series


While it was probably true that most of Manhattan could writes detailed biographies on the lives of Serena Van der Woodsen, Blair Waldorf, Charles Bass, and Nathaniel Archibald, the fab four, there were not many who could describe Manhattan's very own Non-Judging Breakfast Club, dubbed by Ms. Waldorf herself. Truth be told, the only people who could say anything at all about the club were the members themselves. After all, the four had grown up together. Leaned on each other when there was no one else there, cried on each others shoulders when there was nothing left to do. Yes, the four young adults, once teenagers, knew each other better than anyone else, family included.

Blair Waldorf, while a Queen B through and through, was also a mother hen. Not that she would ever admit it, of course. She had a reputation to keep up. But when one of them got hurt, or sick, or messed with, well, Blair Waldorf wasn't a force to be reckoned with. While her rather bossy side had gotten on the nerves of, well, everybody, it was also what kept the four together. After all, who else could keep both Serena Van der Woodsen AND Chuck Bass in line? Certainly not themselves, and poor, passive Nate was no match for the pair of devils. While no one doubted Ms. Waldorf's ability to cause mayhem, she was also the more logical of the group, the one who knew when to say stop (something the other three members of the club lacked the ability of when it came to fun) For Blair, it was always about her reputation. Fun came second. Though, usually, the two managed to correspond with each other, which worked out just fine.

Serena Van Woodsen was the opposite. She was party animal, the "queen of fun". Well, maybe princess would suit her better. Queen had always been Blair's thing. Serena, of the four, was probably the wildest, even beating out Chuck. Because while Chuck had a father's disapproving frowns to worry about, Serena only had friends to lean on in the aftermath. With her mother constantly away, Serena had never faced any consequences in her life. Truth be told, the world was lucky that Serena was a good person at heart, and that she had three people in her life to remind her of that fact. where Blair acted on logic (meaning it logically benefited herself), Serena acted on whatever she wanted to act on at that given moment of time. Sometimes it was for the fun of it, and sometimes it was because it was the right thing to do. Whatever the case, it was their little club that kept her grounded. In fact, it was their club that made Serena herself. Blair kept her grounded into reality, Chuck made sure she never forgot to have fun, and that it was okay to be bad every now and then, and Nate reminded her to be sweet, to be kind, and to be passionate.

Chuck Bass was, well, a Bass. Calm, cool, collected, and possibly the reincarnation of the devil. That was the Chuck the world knew and feared. Now, it was fairly obvious that Chuck was the way he was to protect himself. It was how he was taught to be. What wasn't obvious was that the way Chuck was also protected his friends. While Blair was the mother figure, Chuck played the role of the protector. And the avenger. He was the one who kept tabs on the other three and made sure anyone who messed with them paid for it. And some more. He was the one who brought out Blair's wild side. He was the one who made sure Serena had her daily dosage of danger, but also that she made it home safe at night. He was the one to loosen up Nate and show him a good time, but always remembered to keep an eye on him and remind him that there were people out to get them, but that it was okay because he had a best friend named Chuck Bass.

And finally, Nathaniel Archibald. Nate was, as a matter of fact, a puppy. Ask any one of them and they would be forced to agree. If Blair was the mommy, and Chuck was the bad-ass uncle with a shotgun, and Serena was the crazy aunt who took her nephews and nieces to night clubs, then Nate was the puppy everyone wanted to play with. While Serena had her twinkling four year old laughter, Nate had puppy eyes that could very likely dominate the world one day. That, and the fact that he was freakishly clueless half the time made him a very convincing puppy. Nate was, out of the four of them, the most pampered. Which made him the most innocent. Which made him the most vulnerable to disappointment and hurt. Which made some very protective friends. Not ironically, Nate was the youngest of the four, and had always managed to maintain an air of innocence to himself, no matter what he did, and well, being a part of the Upper East Side, he did quite a lot. That air of innocence was a bit sacred in the NJBC, and something the other three members instinctively wanted to protect, to preserve. That didn't mean they didn't make fun of it, or sometimes use it to their own benefit, of course.

The four had grown up together, had made each other the people they are today. And though the future was sure to hold obstacles and heartbreak, they had each other. That was something that wasn't going to change. Not if they had anything to say about it.


End file.
